Five Reasons We Talk “At” Each Other And How To Listen
When couples walk in my door, saying, “We can’t communicate,” one of the things I immediately wonder is whether anyone is truly listening. With so many of us remaining in various degrees of social distancing, we’re spending more time with those with whom we live than we...
Five Strategies to Deal With Empty Nest
As a therapist, I try to focus not just on concepts, but on tangibles to help people make concrete changes in their lives, no matter what issues they are facing.
This goes for facing an empty nest as well. There are very specific things you can do to help yourself get on with life after empty nest.
Five Commitments To Yourself If You Love (Or Have Loved) A Narcissist
Narcissism. That word gets thrown around a good deal these days to describe someone who’s self-absorbed, highly confident, or abrasive. But what is a true narcissist? And what are the troublesome dynamics if you love a narcissist? (The pronoun “he” is used due to the fact that the...
When Your Marriage Has Turned Into A Business: Seven Healing Ideas
There are thousands of couples whose marriage has turned into a business. Don’t get me wrong; all couples are running a business. There’s the business of household chores, of coordinating kids’ schedules or work trips out of town, of paying bills, or of taking care of aging...
The Boundary-less Couple: Victims and Savers
Boundaries. What in the world does that word really mean when it comes to relationships? A boundary is a limit, an edge, where one thing stops and another begins. When someone says, “I don’t have good boundaries,” what do they mean? Generally, they allow other people to...
Three Steps in Learning to Respond – Not React
As the pandemic continues, perhaps you’re sheltering in place with family and finding that communications with others are breaking down more easily. Or perhaps you’re feeling that your emotions are a bit more difficult to contain. If so, this post is for you. There’s a...
Seven Ways To Get Back To Being “In Love”
Many of us are spending more time than ever with our partners. So we’ve updated this post from two years ago to help any of you who are struggling with your feelings toward someone with whom you were once far more in love. Falling in love can turn your world upside down. You feel as if each...
When Are You Old? 24 Surprising Answers to That Question
I remember being chastised by my parents to “act my age.” I was all of seven so I’m not sure what that was supposed to mean. Not act like a six year old I guess. Probably what it meant was to stop talking, which I did a lot. But when are you old? When does the shift occur where...
When A Parent’s Unconditional Love Is Worn Away
Whenever I hear the term “unconditional love,” I think of the first moment I saw my infant child. That’s probably the purest love I’ve ever felt, or ever will feel. All he’d done so far was breathe and cry, and I loved him. Yet unconditional parental love can...
If “Having It All Together” Is Intimidating, Think Again. Maybe It’s About Risk.
We say things like this all the time… to other people. “You’ve got it all together.” “I could never handle all the things that you do – and you don’t even seem to think about it. You just do it.” You can turn anything into something intimidating. If...
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